Reviews

This has to be the best film ever to "win" a Razzie for Worst Picture of the Year. It may be flawed but it remains a good old-fashioned piece of romantic spy entertainment with many great sequences and impressive work by all departments of the production.

The fact that Maggie Smith and the score did not get Oscar nominations is an outrage, no matter how little business the film did.

I don't use the term "greatest movie ever made" lightly. I actually NEVER use it, except for when it comes to this masterpiece. Superb performances, exceptional writing (which won Neil Jordan an Oscar) and battles with "The Sixth Sense" and "Psycho" for having the biggest surprise/twist in a movie - ever! A twist which, like with the other two films mentioned before, was so respected that people DIDN'T spread the word about its nature. But it's not great because of that famous twist. It's great because it simply works on every level on a haunting, gentle and very simple way. Nothing is forced, and the whole thing (twist not-with-standing) has one of the most unpredictable stories ever told on film. Starts out as a hostage thriller, then turns into a drama, then an intimate love story and then ... well, I wouldn't want to give anything away to the unlucky person that has missed one of the greatest cinematic experiences in the history of film... Don't go on being left out. Give in to "The Crying Game" now!

Whether he turns out to be the new Bond or not, or whether or not Morgan Freeman steals his Oscar this month, one thing remains utterly sure: Clive Owen's performance in this film is one of the best, most brutal, most honest, most fearless and most captivating male performances in recent Hollywood history. This man DESERVES the Oscar, although going up against Morgan Freeman isn't going to be easy, since Freeman never won an Oscar before, and they want to give him one while they can (although his performance in the brilliant Million Dollar Baby isn't his best and most showy work to date).

Clive Owen is the superstar of this film, and every longing woman that goes to see this to get yet another glimpse of their dream man (Jude Law), will forget all about him instantly and fall under the Owen spell. He received a Golden Globe for this role, and if justice truly exists he will get an Oscar as well the 27th. Natalie Portman comes off twice as good as Julia Roberts in an amazing performance as well, showing that she might be one of the biggest actresses yet (as she began to reveal in Cold Mountain). So forget about her wooden Star Wars escapades, alongside Owen she makes one of the decade's most powerful star-making performances. But still, Owen is the real star here. And he's even funny as well! You haven't experienced anything, till you've seen what Mr. Owen can do with the right material!

Bad dubbing aside, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are the best Juliet and Romeo that have ever been in this, the best movie version of the immortally famous Shakespeare. Forget Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes - although Baz Luhrman's version is perhaps the most original take on the story (obviously), no pair have ever been as genuine and believable in the starring roles as Hussey and Whiting. Mere teenagers, the give performances each Academy Award worthy. What they do on screen has to be some of the best acting ever captured be teens on screen (although the dubbing does take away what could have been even more genuine, authentic and realistic).

Filmed when Hussey and Whiting were 15 and 17 and released in 1968, this is the one version you have to see, if you only get to see one version of "Romeo and Juliet" ever...